Four seconds can't define an athletic career, good or bad.

It certainly can't do so in the case of a high school senior reacting in the heat of the moment, immediately after his basketball team lost by a single point in a district championship game.

And it hasn't in the case of Mars senior Michael Carmody.

He questioned an official. He kicked a basketball out of frustration following the Planets' WPIAL 5A title game loss to Laurel Highlands.

He temporarily erred in judgment.

But he never put his hands on anybody or physically injured another player. He has no prior history of discipline for bad behavior.

The officials on the court did not call a double-technical on him for arguing with a referee or kicking the ball.

He was never flagged for a personal foul in football. He's been called for two technical fouls in his high school basketball career and one of those was for hanging on the rim after an attempted dunk.

After knocking a Laurel Highlands player down with an elbow after securing a rebound, Carmody helped him up and the two shook hands.

That's Michael Carmody.

A 4.2 student.

A future engineering major and football player at Notre Dame.

A volunteer mentor for autistic children.

A pen-pal for abused inner-city kids.

“A role model in our school,” in the words of Mars athletic director and football coach Scott Heinauer.

A polite, well-spoken kid who refers to media members as “sir” while being interviewed.

He is not a bully. He is not an arrogant, cocky or self-centered person.

And he missed the first round of the state basketball playoffs — potentially his final high school game — due to suspension, because of a few seconds of frustration.

This is the dark side of social media.

Because he is 6-foot-7 and weighs 290 pounds — certainly standing out on a basketball court — Carmody takes a lot of abuse on Twitter and other social media outlets. A video of his actions after the game was tweeted out, creating a “groundswell of attention” in Mars coach Rob Carmody's words, and “put a lot of pressure on the (WPIAL) to do something.”

And they did.

Michael Carmody will become a better person for this. He would have, anyway, even if there was no suspension.

He's one of those kids who learns from mistakes.

He's also one of those kids who wants to make things better for future kids walking in his shoes.

He did more than apologize to the WPIAL board. Though his own high school sports career is ending, he volunteered to become part of a committee he feels should be formed to help kids deal with — and prevent — harsh treatment on social media.

That's who Michael Carmody is.

There have been plenty of high school athletes who have knocked over a chair, yelled an obscenity or reacted in some other negative way in the heat of competition through the years.

There just weren't any cell phones around to document such outbursts.

Today, every little move is under scrutiny.

That four seconds of Michal Carmody's life is over.

The time he will spend helping others as he continues to blossom as a human being will go on for years.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle